"In fact perhaps now is a time to visit - there seem to be a lot of holiday deals to India going, especially in the north-west."
More than 20 years ago, during a previous India-Pakistan, "Hey, we have nukes!" fuss over Kashmir-Jammu, my unemployed husband was offered a contract job in that part of India. I confess that the amount of money they were offering led me to say, "You could at least think about it ...".
Quakers are hard to count, despite - perhaps indeed because of - their astonishing appetite for detailed membership statistics.
According to the latest official figures, there are 10,764 members. There are also 7,173 "attenders" (people who regularly attend Quaker worship but are not formally in membership). The overall total is therefore 17,078. There is little formal distinction between members and attenders (though some roles tend in practice to be reserved for members); but coming into membership is usually regarded as denoting a firm commitment to Quakers, and therefore as significant. Attenders are cohabiting with Quakers; members have moved from cohabitation to marriage.
The difficulty with the official statistics is that there's no definitive criterion as to how regularly you need to attend in order to be counted as an "attender", so the official Quaker statistics are to some extent built on sand. If you nevertheless have an appetite for such things, see here:
The Quaker movement dates to the 17th century, and is Christian in origin: but British Quakerism has no formal creed, and hence encompasses an astonishing variety of religious commitment.
The approach to politics can be more dogmatic. It is hard work (and possibly unsustainable) being a gender critical Quaker. See here:
Re Alice Evans. I do not care for her. Like a lot of feminists she cannot accept that anything that favours men often favours women- or might just be a good itself.
Latin America is just violent. 1 in 5 dollars earned in the continent spent is spent preventing crime. Or the same population as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adding Sheperds Bush is murdered every year
Peru has a romantic drama about an upstanding security guard who wins the heart if the rich girl he protects
Latin/Meso America draw a circle from N.O LA incorporating Kingston Jamaica and ending in well Chiclayo Pope Leo's old diocese. . This is a probably the largest visible racial frontier zone on Earth. Europeans-Indios- and Blacks, and all the resulting mixes. It is very easy to other people there.
Why did I end the circle at Chiclayo- because that is a good place to mark the end of Inca rule. The Inca state hanged, and taxed. I would have ended the circle at Quito- Quito is under attack from Venz, and Colombian gangs who have been encouraged to go south. If you follow the current president of Colombia on Twitter - he was posting articles about Pope Leo demanding Fujimori apologise to his victims
I was at Mass in London, for the homily the priest outlined the difficulty of getting piped water in the provinces of Peru. (It was not the current Pope) This is true- I could not fail to noticed he had not mentioned the transit strike in Lima. Which was due to crime. Aren't sins of comission worse than omission Father.
I keep thinking of the bus driver murdered. I took the bus back from Lima Norte to the Airport
I wonder if it was the same man I was speaking too
Go back to the President of Colombia. The rumor is the Peruvian civil service unions and officials want a left wing government, They are refusing to prosecute people and forcing the PNP to turn people loose. The Venezulean government are openly committing murder in Chile. Until the Venezulean ulcer is lanced this will continue
It's good on Leslie to bring attention to Walter Ong, but I can't help but feel that this is a form of liberal cope on his part: my ideology of choice has nothing to do with the current turmoil; it's all post-literacy, don't you see? It's just like Jonathan Haidt blaming everything on screens.
Like me, the current Pope had a Carte Extranero - My soul now lives in mortal fear that the Pope having probably had to travel annually into Lima to get his immigration status confirmed Once heard me and my extranged wife having one of our more involved discussions in the Migrations office on Espana Avenue, in Lima. Or my daughter bit him as a toddler
We were discussing dual nationality on here- Prevost had to get a Peruvian passport before he could get a bank account-to rest that money in his accout, before he could pay for a warm bottle of Pepsi with Yape- Yape Cash app. ( That's an over simplification but not so much )
Speaking of how western officialdom cannot get the roads mended- here is the Pope complaining about potholes in Chiclayo
I know these round-ups aren't the heart of your Substack, but I always look forward to them. When they were "Sunday West", I used to read them on my phone as I strolled to church on a Sunday morning, which I thought of as a charming bit of retro-futurism. But who knows, if Silicon Valley is turning to Christianity, maybe it will be the future in both senses!
As for the political future of this country, Reform could either form the next government or shrivel like the Poujadists did. But if they do the former, it will be because of that word Ganesh singles out: "order". I've been saying for a while to as many of my (mostly left-wing) friends as are willing to listen that the average voter is considerable to the right of the mainstream consensus on immigration and crime... as well as opposed to a constellation of things exemplified by the trans issue (as it touches on children) but more widely apparent in aspects of the state education system: essentially, the conviction of a self-satisfied elite that it knows better how to raise kids than their own parents do.
However, I suspect Reform will use these culture war issues to attain power before governing as a bunch of libertarian Thatcherites - an economic posture that I don't think currently has much support in this country. In short, I think a Farage-led administration will / would make itself very unpopular in short order. Heaven knows what happens next!
I should do more of them, my original plan was every other weekend, but they end up taking much more time than a regular post.
On the subject of order, I plan to write something about why illiberalism is winning globally. I suppose I would consider myself in a liberal in the broader sense, but if you look at various shades of illiberalism - China, El Salvador, UAE and Hungary - they have all proved pretty effective at basic quality of life stuff, which liberal countries are clearly failing at. being able to take public transport without encountering frightening mentally ill men hassling you for change is quite a big thing.
I agree Reform, if they won (still not likely tbh) would not be up to this task.
Historically speaking, increased influxes of "nomads" are not a sign of a higher stage of civilization but rather of a descent into a Dark Ages of some kind!
"In fact perhaps now is a time to visit - there seem to be a lot of holiday deals to India going, especially in the north-west."
More than 20 years ago, during a previous India-Pakistan, "Hey, we have nukes!" fuss over Kashmir-Jammu, my unemployed husband was offered a contract job in that part of India. I confess that the amount of money they were offering led me to say, "You could at least think about it ...".
Does he regret not taking it?
No, but things might have turned out very differently if he had!
Quakers are hard to count, despite - perhaps indeed because of - their astonishing appetite for detailed membership statistics.
According to the latest official figures, there are 10,764 members. There are also 7,173 "attenders" (people who regularly attend Quaker worship but are not formally in membership). The overall total is therefore 17,078. There is little formal distinction between members and attenders (though some roles tend in practice to be reserved for members); but coming into membership is usually regarded as denoting a firm commitment to Quakers, and therefore as significant. Attenders are cohabiting with Quakers; members have moved from cohabitation to marriage.
The difficulty with the official statistics is that there's no definitive criterion as to how regularly you need to attend in order to be counted as an "attender", so the official Quaker statistics are to some extent built on sand. If you nevertheless have an appetite for such things, see here:
https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/tabular-statement-yearly-meeting-2025
The Quaker movement dates to the 17th century, and is Christian in origin: but British Quakerism has no formal creed, and hence encompasses an astonishing variety of religious commitment.
The approach to politics can be more dogmatic. It is hard work (and possibly unsustainable) being a gender critical Quaker. See here:
https://thismagpiemixture.blogspot.com/2025/03/how-should-quakers-talk-about-sex-and.html
True, but whatever their size, their influence in modern leftism is still impressively large.
Thanks for marking my card about David Goodhart's substack - I have now subscribed.
Re Alice Evans. I do not care for her. Like a lot of feminists she cannot accept that anything that favours men often favours women- or might just be a good itself.
Latin America is just violent. 1 in 5 dollars earned in the continent spent is spent preventing crime. Or the same population as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adding Sheperds Bush is murdered every year
https://www.lavanguardia.com/peliculas-series/series/mi-amor-el-wachiman-207880/actores
Peru has a romantic drama about an upstanding security guard who wins the heart if the rich girl he protects
Latin/Meso America draw a circle from N.O LA incorporating Kingston Jamaica and ending in well Chiclayo Pope Leo's old diocese. . This is a probably the largest visible racial frontier zone on Earth. Europeans-Indios- and Blacks, and all the resulting mixes. It is very easy to other people there.
Why did I end the circle at Chiclayo- because that is a good place to mark the end of Inca rule. The Inca state hanged, and taxed. I would have ended the circle at Quito- Quito is under attack from Venz, and Colombian gangs who have been encouraged to go south. If you follow the current president of Colombia on Twitter - he was posting articles about Pope Leo demanding Fujimori apologise to his victims
I was at Mass in London, for the homily the priest outlined the difficulty of getting piped water in the provinces of Peru. (It was not the current Pope) This is true- I could not fail to noticed he had not mentioned the transit strike in Lima. Which was due to crime. Aren't sins of comission worse than omission Father.
uters.com/world/americas/lima-grinds-halt-perus-transit-workers-demand-action-against-crime-surge-2025-04-10/
I keep thinking of the bus driver murdered. I took the bus back from Lima Norte to the Airport
I wonder if it was the same man I was speaking too
Go back to the President of Colombia. The rumor is the Peruvian civil service unions and officials want a left wing government, They are refusing to prosecute people and forcing the PNP to turn people loose. The Venezulean government are openly committing murder in Chile. Until the Venezulean ulcer is lanced this will continue
Or we get a Brasilian Pinochet
It's good on Leslie to bring attention to Walter Ong, but I can't help but feel that this is a form of liberal cope on his part: my ideology of choice has nothing to do with the current turmoil; it's all post-literacy, don't you see? It's just like Jonathan Haidt blaming everything on screens.
Reading this deliciously bleak post, I feel vindicated in my decision not to travel to the UK and spend the summer and autumn at my university campus!
And instead, remain in Dubai! There is so much anger and negativity in old England!
An American Pope you say? Well that is correct but not in the way you meant
https://x.com/_Mizumonosss/status/1920564467265388715
Like me, the current Pope had a Carte Extranero - My soul now lives in mortal fear that the Pope having probably had to travel annually into Lima to get his immigration status confirmed Once heard me and my extranged wife having one of our more involved discussions in the Migrations office on Espana Avenue, in Lima. Or my daughter bit him as a toddler
We were discussing dual nationality on here- Prevost had to get a Peruvian passport before he could get a bank account-to rest that money in his accout, before he could pay for a warm bottle of Pepsi with Yape- Yape Cash app. ( That's an over simplification but not so much )
Speaking of how western officialdom cannot get the roads mended- here is the Pope complaining about potholes in Chiclayo
https://x.com/OutPeru/status/1920608263676068069
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/clywgz0342xo.amp
Pope Adrian IV came to power at a pretty contentious time in the Italian Peninsula as well.
There was even an attempt to revive the Roman Senate in his time!:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune_of_Rome
I know these round-ups aren't the heart of your Substack, but I always look forward to them. When they were "Sunday West", I used to read them on my phone as I strolled to church on a Sunday morning, which I thought of as a charming bit of retro-futurism. But who knows, if Silicon Valley is turning to Christianity, maybe it will be the future in both senses!
As for the political future of this country, Reform could either form the next government or shrivel like the Poujadists did. But if they do the former, it will be because of that word Ganesh singles out: "order". I've been saying for a while to as many of my (mostly left-wing) friends as are willing to listen that the average voter is considerable to the right of the mainstream consensus on immigration and crime... as well as opposed to a constellation of things exemplified by the trans issue (as it touches on children) but more widely apparent in aspects of the state education system: essentially, the conviction of a self-satisfied elite that it knows better how to raise kids than their own parents do.
However, I suspect Reform will use these culture war issues to attain power before governing as a bunch of libertarian Thatcherites - an economic posture that I don't think currently has much support in this country. In short, I think a Farage-led administration will / would make itself very unpopular in short order. Heaven knows what happens next!
I should do more of them, my original plan was every other weekend, but they end up taking much more time than a regular post.
On the subject of order, I plan to write something about why illiberalism is winning globally. I suppose I would consider myself in a liberal in the broader sense, but if you look at various shades of illiberalism - China, El Salvador, UAE and Hungary - they have all proved pretty effective at basic quality of life stuff, which liberal countries are clearly failing at. being able to take public transport without encountering frightening mentally ill men hassling you for change is quite a big thing.
I agree Reform, if they won (still not likely tbh) would not be up to this task.
Perhaps because people around the world are not fond of what Jacques Attali prophetically called a "nomad society" towards the end of the Cold War:
https://londonspeakerbureau.com/speaker-profile/jacques-attali/
Historically speaking, increased influxes of "nomads" are not a sign of a higher stage of civilization but rather of a descent into a Dark Ages of some kind!